WIRRAL Council is calling for an independent specialist team of trouble-shooters to help boost morale and reduce spiralling absentee levels in its social services department.

WIRRAL Council is calling for an independent specialist team of trouble-shooters to help boost morale and reduce spiralling absentee levels in its social services department.

The move is in response to an internal audit by the Absence Monitoring Project (AMP) team which was set up after reports that staff absence was costing tax payers as much as #3m a year.

The full findings of the AMP report are expected in September but an application to central government has already been made for the consultancy scheme.

Officials were at the department on Friday to assess the application. A decision is expected in a matter of weeks.

Cabinet member for social and health services, Coun Paul Witter, said: "The quality of services offered to the public by the social services department depends on its staff more than anything.

"Obviously there are incidents of genuine illness, but the overall costs at the moment are enormous.

"And the total cost is high, not only in financial terms, but also in morale and motivation.

"We must ensure that we bring down the level of sickness and we will do that. There are signs that absence management is beginning to work and the consultancy scheme should continue."

Coun John Hale, leader of the Conservatives, said: "I do not care how the absenteeism is brought down but it does need to be brought down. This is costing us too much money."

If the application is approved, consultants will be drafted in to help the department develop and implement strategies to support staff who take short-term absence due to stress-related illness.

The cost of the consultancy, estimated at around #33,000, would be met by the Department for Education and Employment's new Work-Life Balance Challenge Fund.

Assistant director for support services in the council's social services department, Sue Roberts, said: "We would use the consultancy to help us with further research into good practice, training for managers and for running focus groups with staff to get their views on how we can improve our service to them.

"The specialist consultants will design and deliver work-life balance policies and practices."

According to the department's own figures, released in November last year, more than 11,000 work days were lost between April and September 2000 with up to 30pc of the 2,300-strong workforce regularly missing work on health grounds.

The AMP team interviewed more than 700 staff who had been off sick for at least three weeks over a one year period.

Ms Roberts added: "The AMP report is in its early stages and we are still collating the information.

"At this stage we have identified the importance of early intervention and support before things become a problem and to this end we've set up an employee support unit.

"When people feel things are going wrong they can get help early.

"There was a lot of anxiety initially, but staff have now started giving very positive feedback."